I’m a pretty decent cook; I just prefer to have other people take care of it for me. This is very un-French where the art of the table is king. As a Francophile, I should be at the farmer’s market selecting the best fresh produce while my bread is rising at home. This weekend, I had a yen for spinach quiche with a side of roasted vegetables, but quiche my way is pretty simple.

Ingredients:

1 deep-dish frozen pie crust

3 9-ounce boxes frozen creamed spinach, thawed

4 eggs

6 ounces grated Swiss cheese

freshly ground pepper

pre-cut butternut squash and red onions

Heat oven to 400ᵒ F. Toss squash and onions with a little oil and put them in a baking dish. Pop them in the oven to start roasting while you assemble the quiche.

Combine the creamed spinach, eggs, cheese, and about ¼ teaspoon ground pepper in a bowl.

Pour the mixture in the pie shell. If the filling looks like it’ll overfill the shell, bake the extra in a greased ramekin. Turn the heat down to 375ᵒ F. Bake the quiche for about 45 minutes or until set in the center. While the quiche is baking, watch the French news.

Serve with the roasted vegetables. Serves 6 happy people.

Today’s expression, mettre du beurre dans les épinards (metruh due bur dahn layz ay-peen-ar) literally means “to put butter in the spinach.” Figuratively, however, it means to improve one’s financial situation, often by an extra job that makes the end of the month a little easier, so that one can afford not just the spinach, but a little butter on top, too. This recipe for easy quiche won’t change your finances, but it’ll make dinnertime a little easier.